Authorities cuffed a man who they say stole a lawyer’s identity, set up a phony law firm in Brighton Beach, and represented clients in at least 11 court cases.

According to FBI investigators, a man claiming to be “Shlomo G. Dickerman” solicited clients through his 128 Brighton 11th Street office for approximately four years, despite that the would-be lawyer held no license to practice law or any law degree.

The accused, whose actual identity is still unknown to investigators according to the arrest affadavit, obtained the credentials of an actual lawyer named Stephen G. Dickerman.

The real Dickerman had allowed his New York attorney registration, which must be renewed every two years, to expire in 2008.

The following year, a man claiming to be Dickerman showed up at the registration office in Manhattan asking to renew the registration. He was shown a copy of the delinquent notice sent to the real Dickerman – which shared his name, birth date, address, Social Security number, the law school he attended and other private information.

Using a section of the form to update the information, the phony Dickerman changed his first name to Shlomo, claiming it was his Hebrew name, and entered a new home and business address. After paying a $350 registration fee, he went on his way as a registered attorney, and continued to renew the registration every two years.

The con artist then went on to represent clients, including a pair of undercover agents who recorded a meeting with him as recently as July 29. The phony Dickerman asked the pair for a $10,000 retainer, in addition to his $400-an-hour fee, before generously knocking it down to just $5,000.

They also recorded a court appearance on July 15, in which the accused man claimed to be the lawyer whose identity he duped.

FBI agents raided the office earlier this week, seizing computers, files and other documents belonging to the so-called Dickerman. The other lawyers at the same office are not suspected of wrongdoing and appear to be unaffiliated with the accused man, except for having rented space to him.

Part of the blame here goes to the real attorney, as well as to other practicing attorneys, who fail to renew their registrations, and to the Office of Court Administration, for not requiring an active registration in order to appear. We enforce the laws regarding drivers licenses, yet lawyers, who are “officers of the court,” seem to get a free pass.

frankiev

he could have stolen a better name than that :-)

A

Seriously…

Shlomo Dickerman???

If I ever met someone with a name like that, I would think either they’re trolling me or hiding something by going with a pseudonym.

Brighton Red

I am so ashamed of this kind of corruption in my community. They steal from the poor.

EndofDaze

With all the Knucklehead lawyers out there today, this individual accomplished, no great feat!

Nick the Rat

How many cases did Slowmo Penisman win? Imagine he was like, a great lawyer? lol. i love this story. Mr Dick is in for a world of pain now though :(

BrooklynBus

There are some answered quetions here. Why didn’t try ask for identification like a drivers license when he asked to reew his registration. Is the real attorney still alive? He were the authorities tipped off that something was not kosher?

Mike

maybe he was doing ok since he was able to practice with no law degree for 4 years and client representation in court , ,, most lawyers with full law degree dont even know how to practice,

max sart

Jacoby & Meyers

OceanaCorruption

Did he live in the Oceana??

A

Probably.

Everyone over there knew that when you need to prove your innocence after billing medicare for 500 patients that don’t even exist, Shlomo Dickerman is the one to go to. Might as well as live amongst his clientèle.